DuPont, BP Win Temporary Halt to Rival Isobutanol Sales
(Bloomberg BusinessWeek) A joint venture between DuPont Co. (DD) (DD) and BP Plc (BP/) won a court order temporarily preventing a competing biofuel company from trying to sell isobutanol produced at a plant that came online last month.
U.S. District Court Judge Sue Robinson, in Wilmington, Delaware, issued an order yesterday limiting Gevo Inc. from shipping the chemical, used in making biofuels, to new customers. The company can continue selling isobutanol to Sasol Chemical Industries Ltd. and the U.S. Air Force, Robinson said.
Gevo is involved in several patent lawsuits with Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, which DuPont, a specialty chemical maker based in Wilmington, and U.K.-based oil company BP, own.
“This order provides protection for markets of key interest to Butamax,” Butamax Chief Executive Officer Paul Beckwith said in a statement. READ MORE



